Matrix-machine.



1-. c. McFAHLAND.

MATRIX MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 31, 19'.

Patented Apr.-8, 1919. I

. C. McFARLAND. M'ATRIX MACHINE. APPLICATION HLED bEC.31. 19H.

Patented APR-8,1919. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 film HIHIIIIIIII lllllumnlmh.

J. QMCFARLAND.

' MATRIX MACHINE.

' I APPLICATION HLEDDEC- 31,19l1. I 1 ,299,749, Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Illlllll 12517 CaZ/aYZr/and.

ti) STE JOHN C. MQFARLA'ND, OF LA GBANDE, OREGON.

MATRIX-MACHINE.

meegme.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

Application filed December, 31, 1917.. Serial No. 209,695.

[o (1 i /mm if "my concern.

Be it known that- I, Jonx t. )IeFxm-axn, a citizen of the United-States, residing at La (lrande, in the county of Union and State of Oregon. have invented certain new and uset'ul Improvements in Matrix-Machines. of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to machines for making" matrices for use, in the formation of stereotype .or similar plates to be employed upon printing presses. The primary object. of my invention is to provide a mabine. which may be operated in the ordinary manner of a typewriter to produce a mold from or in which a stereotype plate may be cast. inother object of the invention is to provide a simple machine by the use oi which a matrix may be very rapidly amt cheaply produced and which may be automatically ted torwardas a line of characters is termed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanyin drawings aml consists in certain novel teatures which will be. first fully described and then more particularly pointed out. in the appended claims. and in the drawings:

Figure l is a front. elevation oi a machine embodying my improvements. some of the. parts being omitted in order to avoid confusion in the illustration;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the improved machine;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the frame of the machine;

Fig. 4' is a detail perspta-tive view of a.

mold carrier.

in carrying out my invention. I employ a l'rame l which may be ol' the same general l o'rm as the. 't'ranics ol' typewriters now'in use and in which the type bars are disposed in rear'ol the carrier and are operated by keys at the trout ol' the machineto move downwardly and t'orwardly to make an im pression. 'l 'he l'rame comprises .l'ront standards 12 which are disposed on the side bars ol' thebase portion ol the frame and are rigidly connected"by transverse staybolts or rods 'lhe l'ramc also comprises the standardsv l which are t lispo'sed in rear ol' the standards"! and are connected at their upper ends and at intermediate points of their height by the rearwardly extending arcuatebraces T1. the upper of said braces constituting a rest tor the upper ends of the lvpe bars t3 and the lower of said braces pivoted.

constituting a bracket or support; for the bearings 7 in which the said type bars are p The .arcnate form of these braces and the consequent curve or arcuate arrangement of the type bars mounted thereon will cause the type faces 8, which are provided at the free ends of the bars, to strike at a common point upon the mold which point obviously is the center about which the arcs defined by the braces arr described. The type bars are provided near heir lower pivoted ends on their front edges with perforated lugs or ears 5) and links [0 are pivoted at.- their upper ends to said lugs, the lower ends'ot' the said links being pivoted to the key levers 12 which are pivoted at their rear ends in suitable hearings on the frame and at their front ends carry keys 13 arranged across the front of the machine.

The stay-bolts or rods 2") constitute tracks for a carrier provided at its ends with collars or bearings l-twhich are slidably mounted upon the said stay-bolts or rods, the said rods and the bearings being preter ably circular in crosssecti n so as to facilitate the assembling of the parts and also reduce frictional wear.

the space. between the track members 3 and provided at its ends with the depending flanges or end walls It; through which eX- tends a shaft 17 on the ends of which are secured spur geal'selfi. One end of the shaft 17 may be somewhat extended so as to carry a ratchet wheel 12) and a milled disk or head :20, the said milled disk or head being intended for manipulation so that any desired character in the mold may be closely examinedv and corrected when necessary. The ratchet wheel 12) is intended to be engaged by a dogzl secured upon the front side of the carrier .15 so that the mold may be held at any position to which it. is moved. A linel'eed bar l() is mounted in oil sets it provided on the carrier and carries a dog' lj working through a guide l3 to engage the ratchet wheel it). will carry the def: -11! against the ratchet wheel so that the latter will be partly rotated in the well-known manner. At the rear side ol the carrier is a depending rack W which is engaged by a pinion 2?) con- The carrier 15 is preterably in the torm ot a plate bridging Movement of the bar 40 may be oi the same construction as the. wellknown escapenient device now (t11])l() Vt(l on all typewriters and operated by an escapedrawings as of circular cross-section.

ment bar passing transversely beneath all the key levers 12 in the well-known manner. These elements for controlling the line spacing may be constructed in their specific details in the same manner as similar elements of ordinary typewriters and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in a more or less conventional manner.

On the upper side of the carrier 15 at the ends thereof are bosses or other forms of enlargements indicated at 26 and upon the upper sides of these bosses or enlargements are secured in any convenient manner track members 27, which are shown in the present i The mold car is guided by these tracks and it consists ofa plate 28 of suitable size and form provided on its under .side at itsends with racks 29 adapted to mesh with the spur gears 18, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1, whereby as the said gears arerotated the mold will be moved rearward so as to bring the mold into position to properly space a succeeding line from the line which has been formed.

Upon the under side of the mold car 28, I provide a plurality of depending stub shafts 30 and upon each of said shafts is mounted a grooved guideroller or pulley 31 which is. adapted to bear against the inner portion of.

the respectively adjacent rail or track member 27 and thereby guide the mold carin its movement. The circular form of-the members 27 with the correspondingly shaped peripheral grooves of the guide rollers aids in supporting the mold car so that the weight of the same and the mold placed thereon will not be entirely borne'by the spur gears 18 and the strain upon the saidv gears to move the mold and its car will be thereby minimized. The rollers 31"and the track members 27 obviously will prevent movement of the car longitudinally of the carrier 15 so that the movement of the mold across the machine will only be such as is permitted by the escapement device 24 which controls the transverse movement of thecarrieii15. The mold may be of any suitable material ordinarily employed for the casting of type faces from type metal and the upper surfaceof the mold and the mold car may be curved, as illustrated, or may be plane. The tracks 27 will, of course, be straight or curved accord- 'ingly as the mold hasa curved'or plane upjper' surface and. whether a curved or plane surface is used depends solely on the form ,of press to which the stereotype plate is to be applied.- 1

Aspring drum connecting tape 33' of the usual form are provided tomove the carrier .after each type face has been caused to make an impression in the mold and the extent of such movement is regulated by the escapcment device.-

It is, of course, i desirable that the type faces allimpr'ess in themold to the same depth so that the characters formed from the matrix will have their printing-faces in the same plane to exert the same printingforce upon the paper. T 0 this end, each type bar 6 has its end+15 projected beyond the type face 8 and a suitable stop is provided above vided at its lower end with the rearwardly pro ecting lug or spur 4-8. The upper extremity of the pin or stud 47 is threaded and carrles a wing nut {19 which is turned against the-cross bar 46so as to support the pin at "the proper point vertically to permit thetype, faces to make the desired impression upon the mold. A spring 50 is coiled around the pin or stud 47 between the lug-48 and the cross bar 46 so as to'yieldably hold the lug.

in the lowest position-permitted by the adjustment of the nut 49. When the type bar is swung downwardly and forwardly to make an impression in the mold; the extended end thereof'will impinge against the lug 48 and its downward movement will thereby be arrested, the result being thatall the type faces will penetrate the material of the mold to thesam'e depth. The spring 50. however, will permit the lug, and the pin 47 on which the lug is formed,to be raised'when necessary to avoid injury to any of the parts. when the mold is being inserted in or re moved from the machine.

It will be readily noted from the foregoing description, taken in connection'with the accompanying drawings, that I'have provided a very simple mechanism whereby matrices may be very rapidly and economically produced. The machine will be operated in exactly the same manner as the ordinary typewriter. so that high speed in the production of'the matrix will be attained by skilled operators and "ordinary type setting will be entirely-eliminated. The typebars may be provided in any desired number and will preferably be provided in interchangeable series so that a machine may be arranged to produce type faces ofany desired form. The molds and the mold cars will be Y of such dimensions that they. may be readily placed in position upon the machine and will not impose an excessive strain thereon so that the movement of the parts will be free and easy at 'all times. If desired, the

ma'chine'm'ay be furnished with a large number of mold cars so that molds may be placed upon several carsand after a car carrying a mold has been fed'rearward to the limit of its movement; aseco 'nd car with a mold thereon may be at once placed in position withoutloss of time. To insert a car with an attached mold in place, it is necessary merely to position the car so that the rollers 31 carried thereby will be between the track members or rails 27 and the car is then brought. forward so that the said rollers will engage the said rails and the racks 29 will mesh with thespur gears 18. The machine .is then operated so as to cause the desired type faces to successively strike into the material of the mold and make an impression "or matrix therein. When the last line has been formed the car and the mold may be simply moved rearward past the ends of the track members 27 and thereby disengaged therefrom so that the mold may be placed in any convenient support and type metal poured thereon in the usual manner to producethe stereotype plate. 1

.Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1.1a an apparatus for the purpose, set forth, the combination of a supporting frame, spaced transverse guides secured thereon, a carrier slidably n'lounted on said guides, central projections on the upper side of thecarrier at the endsthereof, track members fixed to said projections and extending forwardly and rearwa'rdly therefrom beyond the carrier,'said traclcmembers being free through their entire extent in front of and in rear of the projections,

a mold car engageable with said track members overthe ends of the same, me'ans'for moving the carrier along the transverse guides, and means for moving the mold car along the track men'ibers.

"2. In an apparatus for the purpose. set forth, the combination of a supporting frame, spaced transverse guides secured in said frame, a carrier slidably mounted on 40 said guides, track members on the upper side of said carrier, a mold car engaging said track members and provided at its ends on its under side with racks disposed at the outer sides of said t 'ack members, a shaft mounted 1n the carrier, spur gears on sa d shaft engaging said racks, and means for intermittently rotating said. shaft.

In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a supporting frame, spaced transverse guides in said frame, a carrier slidably mounted on said mold car engaging said track members, and

means on the carrier and the mold car for moving the mold car along said track members.

4. An apparatusfor the purpose set forth comprising a mold, a plurality of type forming members mounted in rear of the mold, means for swinging the type-forming i'nembers dowmvardly and forwardly to the mold, a support, a pin mounted thereinand provided at its lower end with a stop ex tending into, the path of the type-forming members, means on the upper end of said pin to retain it in the fixed support, and yieldable means between the support and the lower end of the pin to hold the, pin normally lowered.

In testimony whereof I afiiX-my signature.

JOHN o. McFARLAND. [1,. S 

